Lew Keller, 72, Fostered Gop's Growth In Broward

September 18, 1999|By BUDDY NEVINS Political Writer

Lew Keller believed Republicans could only succeed in heavily Democratic Broward County if they practiced the politics of inclusion.

So Mr. Keller, who died on Thursday at 72 after a lengthy battle with cancer, reached out to groups not normally part of the GOP when he was chairman of the Broward County Republicans from 1992 through 1996.

Mr. Keller helped found the New Republican Club, the first GOP organization in Broward with a largely black membership.

He encouraged Hispanics to register to vote and join the party.

He tried to wean Jews away from the Democratic Party.

He reached out to the homosexual community.

"Lew believed the Republican Party should be a big tent including everybody. He had foresight," said Ed Pozzouli, current chairman of the county GOP.

Born in Chicago, Mr. Keller served in the U.S. Merchant Marine in the 1940s. Later, he was a Young Republican in Illinois, where he struck up a lifelong friendship with then-U. S. Rep. Gerald Ford, who later became president.

When Mr. Keller moved to New Jersey and was a sales executive with Burlington Industries, he took his Republican politics with him. He served as an alternative delegate from New Jersey to the Republican National Convention in 1976.

Mr. Keller retired in 1990 to Broward, the county with the largest Democratic Party in Florida. He got involved in the GOP, which was controlled by a small group of religious conservatives.

In 1992, the moderate Mr. Keller put together a coalition that seized control of the Broward Republicans.

"Under his leadership, we turned a corner and became relevant again in Broward," said Ken Haiko, a party activist who helped Mr. Keller take over the GOP.